Saturday, June 28, 2008

(For an explanation for the title of this feature, please see the short article of 3/11/08 on this blog.)

For several of the past Friday evenings, "The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global South" by Philip Jenkins ( http://www.amazon.com/New-Faces-Christianity-Believing-Global/dp/0195300653 ), has occupied my attention. This book is a sequel to Jenkin's groundbreaking book "The Next Christendom" ( go to link above and scroll down to "Most Frequently Purchased Together") which was reviewed on this blog last year (3/5/07). "The Next Christendom" chronicles the spread of Christianity mainly in South America, Africa and Asia, a region Jenkins refers to as "the Global South"; Jenkins makes the case that the population centers and power in the Christian Church will shift from North America and Europe to the Global South. In "The New Faces of Christianity," Jenkins goes into greater detail concerning the differences between Christians in the Global South and the Global North:

Christians in the Global South read the Bible more literally than most Christians in the North.

Christians in the Global South ascribe to the Bible greater authority in all areas of life than Christians in the North.

Christians in the Global South are more likely to believe in and seek Divine healing for sicknesses.

Christians in the Global South believe in a supernatural realm where Satan reigns and from where Satan and his demons tempt and torment humanity. These Christians believe that curses on people are real and must be broken in the power of the Holy Spirit. They also practice the exorcism of demons.

Many Christians in the Global South blame the poverty they suffer from on personal and national sin rather than on man-made economic systems.

This last point will come as a surprise to many Christians in the North who blame the ills of mankind upon unjust economic, social and political systems. This mindset, which the Church in the North has adopted from secular thought, causes Northern Christians to believe that while many Christians in the North are focused on issues such as abortion and homosexuality, Christians in the South are more concerned about poverty, disparities of income, criminal business behavior by multi-national corporations and Third World debt. While it is true that such concerns are held by many Christians in the Global South, these concerns are not the top concerns of the majority of Southern Christians. The poverty and sickness that these Christians face everyday causes them to be more aware of their mortality and makes them more concerned about where they stand with God: they are more concerned that sin does not keep them from Heaven. Their approach to the Bible causes them to place the blame for their circumstances on personal sin and the work of Satan rather than on the economic systems devised by men. Such beliefs cause them to be less politically minded than some Northern Christians.

The differences between Northern and Southern Christians listed here are not by far all that Jenkins covers, yet they are among the most important ones.

"The New Faces of Christianity" provides more of what I had hoped "The Next Christendom" would: sources from Christians in the Global South: including sermons, theological works, websites and histories and biographies of past and current Southern Christians. These sources should give us a good picture of what Southern Churches believe and practice, how they interpret and apply Scripture and where their beliefs and theology will take them and the entire Church in the future. Some of what I have gleaned from Jenkin's book is cause for celebration, such as Southern Christians' view of Scripture. Yet some of what I read is disturbing. For instance, many Southern Christians believe that Scripture has been corrupted by powerful elites in Europe and America and that the true Scripture must be discovered and what is false be purged. Some construct elaborate yet faulty theology by selectively focusing on selected Biblical verses. I am sure that some of these readings of God's Word are the seeds of future Church conduct that will bring shame to the Church of Christ. Yet many of the faults of Christians in the Global South are to be found in the history of the Church in the North, and yet God used the Northern Church to fulfill His purposes. Christians in the North have no need to dread the rise of a Global Southern Christianity.

This book deserves a longer review on this blog. The number of issues it raises is amazing, and each issue needs to be covered in more detail. This book has relevance even for issues discussed mainly in the North, such as the inerrancy of God's Word. Yet I have chosen just to post only one article for the present. Either next Fall or next Winter, I will examine these issues in greater detail. This is truly a most important book.

Since July the Fourth is approaching, the next book to be featured on "Friday Night Frozen Dinner and an Intellectual" will be Michael and Jana Novak's "Washington's God." Have a blessed day.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Critics of Ben Stein's documentary "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" have put out the word that the movie has bombed at the Box Office. By doing so, they hope to demoralize critics of Darwinism; evolutionists taunt those who dissent from Darwinian orthodoxy, saying "See, no one wanted to see your silly movie. You people are on the fringe of society. No one of any intellectual caliber disagrees with us." Darwin's modern-day disciples also hope that by putting out the word that "Expelled" failed at the Box Office, those who can't decide between evolution and creationism would side with the former for fear of being associated with a "discredited" minority. Proponents of evolution indulge in the logic that if "Expelled" did so poorly with movie audiences, then it must be a bad film. One blogger, commenting on my review of the film, declared that since one cannot obtain a bootlegged copy of "Expelled" on the street, it must be of poor quality.

Yet the Box Office record tells another story. The film opened in 1,052 theaters nation-wide, a record for a documentary feature. The first weekend of its release, it took in $2,900,000, the third biggest opening for a documentary. As of May 13th, it grossed $7,000,000 the twelfth highest gross earnings for a documentary in the United States ( The source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expelled:_No_Intelligence_Allowed ) Further bad news for foes of "Expelled": the suit filed by Yoko Ono against the film's producers for using two seconds of John Lennon's "Imagine" has been thrown out of court. Apparently neither she nor the movie's critics have heard of the "Fair Use Doctrine." http://www.uncommondescent.com/ (See the6/3/08 post)

My review of "Expelled" on this blog generated more comments than any other piece I have published (Thirteen comments! Some of them are mine). The review was posted at 6:00 A.M. Within ninety minutes, a blogger calling himself/herself benfranklin responded, recommending a website "exposing" Expelled. Ninety minutes! Early in the morning! Are evolutionist bloggers working overtime to spot dissent from Darwin on the Internet? Do they feel that threatened by Intelligent Design? I digress. My responses to benfranklin have led me to write some posts dealing with the website expelledexposed.com . I will deal with this website'sscurrilous portrayal of those who appeared in "Expelled," as well the use of a quote from Darwin's "The Descent of Man" in the film. The question of the relationship between Darwinian Evolution and Nazi ideology and the holocaust will also be addressed. For those who, like Francis Collins, author of "The Language of God," believe that Evolution is compatible with Christianity, I will disprove that contention using the words of Darwin himself. benfranklin, if you are out there, I welcome your comments.

About Me

John Guthrie: History and Seminary Grad., Former Pastor/Will Pastor Again, Has Done three years of prison ministry, Been on the board of a Crisis Pregnancy Center. Also into History, Literature, British Drama.